This document outlines various mobile app design patterns for navigation, forms, search/filtering, tools, onboarding, feedback/affordance, and anti-patterns. It describes navigation patterns like springboards, lists, tabs, galleries; form patterns like sign in, registration, comments; search patterns like auto-complete and dynamic search; tool patterns like toolbars and contextual actions; onboarding patterns like tips and tours; and anti-patterns to avoid like novel notions and oceans of buttons. The document provides guidance on when and how to implement these common mobile design patterns.

1. Gran Sasso Science Institute
Ivano Malavolta
Design patterns for mobile apps

2. Roadmap
Navigation
Forms
Search, sort & filter
Tools
Invitations
Feedback & Affordance
Anti-Patterns

3. Navigation
• How users move through the views
– Springboard
– Lists (Vertical, Infinite)
– Tabs
– Gallery (Grid)
– Dashboard
– Metaphor
– Page Carousel
– Image Carousel
– Expanding Lists
– Infinite Area

4. Springboard
• Use a grid layout for items of equal importance, or an
irregular layout to emphasize some items more than others
• Consider personalization and customization options

5. Lists
• Work well for long lists with subtext
• All internal screens should have a way for returning back
• It can be “infinite”, it can have thumbnails

6. Tabs
• Clearly differentiate the selected tab from the others
• Use easy to recognize icons or icons with labels

7. Gallery (Grid)
• Works best for frequently updated content that people want
to browse

8. Dashboard
• Dashboards provide a roll-up of key performance indicators
• Don’t overload the dashboard
• Usually Springboards are also called Dashboards

9. Metaphor
• Pages are modeled to reflect the application’s metaphor
• Use the Metaphor pattern judiciously

10. Page carousel
• Works best for navigating a small number of pages
• Visual indicator to reflect the number of screens, and
current screen
• Flick to navigate the carousel

11. Image Carousel
• Works best for displaying fresh visual content, like articles,
products, and photos
• Provide visual affordance, either with arrows, partial images,
or page indicators that more content can be accessed

12. Expanding Lists
• Works best for progressively disclosing more details or
options for an object

13. Infinite Area
• The entire data set can be considered to be a large, two-
dimensional graphic
• The viewport shows only a small
subset of the whole data set

14. Can you compare these navigation designs?
Exercise

15. Roadmap
Navigation
Forms
Search, sort & filter
Tools
Invitations
Feedback & Affordance
Anti-Patterns

16. Forms
• They are for data entry and configuration
– Sign In
– Registration
– Check-in
– Comments
– Users Profile
– Share
– Empty Datasets
– Multi-step
– Settings

17. Sign In
• Don’t innovate on the sign in screen
• Provide a way to retrieve a forgotten password
• Provide a way to login via social networks

18. Registration
• Keep it short, preferably one screen
• Register button well visible

19. Check-in
• Keep it ultra-short
• Design for speed, and efficiency
• Eliminate unnecessary fields
• Don’t show the map!

20. Comments
• Invite user to leave comment
• Always clarify what is being commented
• Show other people’s comments over time

21. Timeline
• Within the current hour, show as minutes ago
• Within the current day, show the time as number of hours ago
• Within the last two days, shown the day of the week, and the
time range, morning, afternoon, evening, night
• Within the past week, show the day of the week
• Within 12 months, show as mm/DD
• Older than 12 months, show only the year

22. Users Profile
• Put the badges in evidence
• Show their contribution to the social network
• Provide action controls

23. Share
• Always keep track of past logins
• Always provide an “off social” way to share (e.g., by email)
• Remark what is being shared

24. Empty datasets
• Avoid white-screens, explain why the dataset is empty
• call for action, only one!
• Avoid error messages

25. Multi Step
• Show the user where they are and where they can go
• Eliminate unnecessary fields
• minimize the number of pages and steps

26. Settings
• Put them inside the app
• Clear and grouped
• Easy to be understood

27. Roadmap
Navigation
Forms
Search, sort & filter
Tools
Invitations
Feedback & Affordance
Anti-Patterns

28. Search, Sort & Filter
• Search
– Explicit Search
– Auto-complete
– Dynamic Search
– Scoped Search
– Saved & Recent
– Search form
– Search Results

29. Explicit Search
• Offer a clear button in the field
• Provide an option to cancel the search
• Use feedback to show the search is being performed

30. Search Auto-complete
• Show feedback if there could be a delay in displaying the results
• Consider emphasizing the matching search text in the search
results

31. Dynamic Search
• Automatically filters a given list of items
• Works well for constrained data sets, like an address book or
personal media library

32. Scoped Search
• Offer reasonable scoping options based on the data set
• 3 to 6 scoping options are plenty

33. Search form
• Minimize the number of input fields
• Follow form design best practices (alignment, labels, size)
• Use only when strictly needed

34. Search Results
• Use live scroll instead of paging
• Apply a reasonable default sort order
• Call for action
this is also an Anti-pattern
(see Oceans of Buttons)

35. Search, Sort & Filter
• Sort
– Onscreen Sort
– Sort Order Selector

36. Onscreen Sort
• Clearly show which option is selected
• Do not use it if option labels don’t fit nicely in a toggle button
bar

37. Sort Order Selector
• Follow OS design conventions for choosing the selector
control, or choose an OS neutral interface control
• Clearly show which sort option is applied

38. Filter Forms
• Don’t over-design the filter, a simple onscreen filter or
drawer will usually suffice

39. Roadmap
Navigation
Forms
Search, sort & filter
Tools
Invitations
Feedback & Affordance
Anti-Patterns

40. Tools
• Buttons & Controls
– Toolbar
– Option Menu
– Contextual Tools
– Inline Actions
– Call to Action Buttons
– Multi-state Button
– Bulk Actions
– Maps

41. Toolbar
• Contain screen level actions, they are generally displayed at the
bottom of the screen
• Choose icons that are easy to recognize, or use labels plus icons

42. Option Menu
• Choose direct interactions when possible
• Possibly don’t hide navigation in the Option Menu

43. Contextual Tools
• If buttons are necessary, they should be displayed in
proximity to the actionable object
• Choose a familiar icon or use a text label

44. Inline Actions
• They should be in proximity to the actionable object
• Choose a familiar icon or use a text label
• Max 1 to 2 Inline Actions per object

45. Call to Action Buttons
• Don’t hide the main call to action in a menu or disguise it as
an unrecognizable icon in a toolbar
• Good contrast and clear label

46. Multi-state Button
• Multi-State Buttons work well for a series of tightly correlated
actions that will to be performed in succession

47. Bulk Actions
• Bulk actions like delete and reorder are best handled in an
edit mode
• Provide an obvious option for exiting the mode

48. Maps
• Provide visible markers (avoiding “terrain-mode”)
• Use as much screen as possible
• Can be small if the location is not the main item

49. Roadmap
Navigation
Forms
Search, sort & filter
Tools
Invitations
Feedback & Affordance
Anti-Patterns

50. Invitations
• Helpful tips displayed the first time a user launches an app
– Dialog
– Tip
– Tour
– Video
– Transparency
– 1st Time Through
– Persistent
– Discoverable

51. Dialog
• Keep dialog content short
• make sure there is an alternate way to access instructions
from within the application

52. Tip
• Place tips in proximity to the feature they refer to
• keep the content short
• remove the tip once interaction begins

53. Tour
• A tour should highlight key features of the application,
preferably from a (user) goal perspective
• Keep it short and visually engaging

54. Video
• Demos should showcase key features or show how to use
the application
• Common video features (stop, pause, volume controls, etc,...)
should be provided

55. Transparency
• Transparencies are not meant to compensate for poor
screen designs!
• Remove the Transparency once interaction begins
My
favourite
invitation!

56. 1st time through
• Clearly differentiate the invitation from other content with
images or other visual cues

57. Persistent
• Keep it short
• Clearly differentiate the invitation from other content with
images or other visual cues

58. Discoverable
• Use Discoverable invitations sparingly
• The most common instance of this pattern is for prompting a
data refresh

59. Roadmap
Navigation
Forms
Search, sort & filter
Tools
Invitations
Feedback & Affordance
Anti-Patterns

60. Feedback & Affordance
• Feedback
– Errors
– Confirmation
– System Status
• Affordance
– Tap
– Flick
– Drag

61. Feedback: Errors
• Use plain language that offers a solution for resolving the issue
• make the error visible
• use in-screen messaging instead of modal dialogs

62. Feedback: Confirmation
• Provide confirmation when an action is taken
• don’t break the user’s flow

63. Feedback: System Status
• Provide feedback about the system’s status
• Offer a cancel option for potentially lengthy operations

64. Affordance: Tap
• Use common visual design techniques to indicate tappable
controls
• Apply 3D effects judiciously

65. Affordance: Flick
• Use a page indicator
• show the edge of the next item
• Avoid heavy weight scroll bars

66. Affordance: Drag
• Use a recognizable icon for the handle
• Consider using an invitation to let users know this feature is
available

67. Roadmap
Navigation
Forms
Search, sort & filter
Tools
Invitations
Feedback & Affordance
Anti-Patterns

68. Anti-Patterns
• Common pitfalls to avoid
– Novel Notions
– Metaphor Mismatch
– Idiot Boxes
– Chart Junk
– Oceans of Buttons

69. Novel Notions
• If you are looking for a way to innovate with your application,
focus on your core features and offerings, but rely on best
practices for the interface design
• If you design a custom control, rigorously test it and refine it to
make sure it is usable

70. Novel Notions Examples

71. Novel Notions Examples

72. Metaphor Mismatch
• Consists in picking the wrong metaphor for the interface:
– Control mismatch
– Icon mismatch
– Mental model mismatch

73. Metaphor Mismatch Examples
Control
mismatch
Icon
mismatch
Mental model
mismatch

74. Idiot Boxes
Avoid disrupting the workflow
only show a confirmation dialog when an irreparable
action is being taken (like a permanent delete)

75. Chart Junk
Only use visual elements in charts and graphs that are necessary
to communicate the information represented on the graph

76. Oceans of Buttons
• Use standard patterns for displaying page level actions
• Provide contextual tools for item level actions instead of repeating
the same button
• Keep page level actions visually separate from navigational
elements

77. References
• Screenshots from:
– www.mobiledesignpatterngallery.com
– pttrns.com
– inspired-ui.com
– mobile-patterns.com
get
inspired!

78. + 39 380 70 21 600
Contact
Ivano Malavolta |
Gran Sasso Science Institute
iivanoo
ivano.malavolta@univaq.it
www.ivanomalavolta.com